FT. COLLINS, CO. – OCTOBER 18: Colorado State Rams quarterback Garrett Grayson throws to an open man in the first quarter at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium Saturday evening, October 18, 2014. (Photo By Andy Cross / The Denver Post)

FORT COLLINS — During the last two games, both wins at sold-out Hughes Stadium, Garrett Grayson has become Colorado State’s career leader in passing yardage, completions and touchdown passes. While climbing up the lists this season, the Rams’ senior quarterback has passed such CSU notables as Kelly Stouffer, Terry Nugent, Moses Moreno, Caleb Hanie, Anthoney Hill and Bradlee Van Pelt.

“Early on in my career, I guess I wasn’t really thinking about that, especially with how I played early on,” Grayson said of the records after throwing for 390 yards and five touchdowns in a 45-31 win over Wyoming on Saturday. “This year, everybody kind of knows where I stood, I knew where I stood, but I kind of wanted to stay within myself. … Anytime you start thinking about records, it takes you out of your game.”

CSU coach Jim McElwain mused last week that Grayson might be the most improved quarterback in the country, and anyone who has seen the Rams this season probably is nodding. That’s not because Grayson’s base line was low with considerable room for the improvement, but because he has taken the swirl of successes, disappointments and lessons of the past three seasons to, well, flip the switch.

Grayson has been a better leader, with a quiet confidence. Some of that, he picked up at the Manning Passing Academy last summer, but he still can’t completely pull off barking at teammates, because it’s often followed by a sheepish apology or an air of: Did I really say that?

He’s undeniably popular among his teammates, and they root for him both because it’s a team thing and because they’re genuinely pulling for him. (That’s not always true in football.)

He came to CSU as the high-profile kid from southwest Washington who seemed to be the “fallback” quarterback regionally and nationally in his recruiting class, overshadowed in his home state by Jake Heaps, now a backup at Miami, and Connor Halliday of Washington State. When Grayson arrived at CSU, coach Steve Fairchild was continuing to place ill-advised faith in Pete Thomas. When Thomas was hurt late in the 2011 season, Grayson’s redshirt came off, perhaps because Fairchild knew he couldn’t look ahead to the next season unless the Rams closed strong.

It’s tempting to wonder what would have happened if he had redshirted that season, but Grayson himself says that playing down the stretch of 2011 aided his development, and he’s already 23 years old.

That said, Fairchild’s blunt and vocal approach with Grayson was a little over the top. He needed nurturing, not sharp-edged, relentless prodding. But even that is part of the eventual package of circumstances that have led to Grayson’s improvement, and it also includes working with quarterbacks coach Billy Napier in 2012 — before Napier left the staff — plus Dave Baldwin and McElwain. Baldwin, the offensive coordinator, switched from also coaching tight ends to take on the quarterback duties after Napier’s departure.

As McElwain loves to point out, the Rams also have brought in “playmaker” receivers around Grayson, including Rashard Higgins. But Grayson also has been stunningly accurate this season when throwing downfield, and resilient in playing through a bruised shoulder suffered at Boston College. His practice throwing has been rationed.

“When you’re not getting the reps, you can miss certain routes and things like that you don’t get to practice,” Grayson said. “So when you do get those 30, 40 throws that I’ve been getting through the week, it’s something you need to be perfect on. I’m not going to say missing reps helps you, but it’s definitely caused me to focus a bit more.”

A graduate of Wheat Ridge High School and the University of Colorado, former Denver Post writer Terry Frei has been named a state's sportswriter of the year seven times -- four times in Colorado and three times in Oregon. He's the author of seven books, including the novel "Olympic Affair" about Colorado's Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion; and "Third Down and a War to Go," about the 1942 football national champion Wisconsin Badgers and the players' subsequent World War II heroism.

More in Sports

“This is one of the great jobs in all of sports,” Colorado AD RIck George said Sunday. “There's not a better job in America than here in Colorado." Translation: If you’re not here to win championships, pal, don’t join the party.

If recent history is any indication, Helton likely faces an uphill climb to become the first Colorado player inducted into Cooperstown because of the bias that voters tend to hold against hitters who spent their careers playing home games at elevation.

The inspiration for the nickname came from "the outdoors, the sunshine, that feeling you get when you live here in Colorado," Vibes general manager Chris Phillips explained during Monday's name unveiling.

In his long-running role as the Chargers’ yappy quarterback, Rivers is the football villain Denver loves to hate most. On this November afternoon, Rivers inexplicably decided to pick a fight with Harris, the Broncos’ shutdown corner.